Jäätise/hooaeg (ice cream season) is in full swing and Estonians love their ice cream. It's particularly great to see older people enjoying jäätis on the street and in parks. It's an indulgence that's hard to resist even for people on a strict budget, as most Estonian senior citizens are. Jäätis is a quintessential part of suvi (summer), especially in northern climes, where the warm weather and explosion of nature is long-awaited. Jää = ice and jäätis could be translated as "something icy". The word for cream (koor) is not part of the word in Estonian, but is definitely part of the product. In the case of the koore/jäätis, the package states: 15% koorejäätis, which literally means 15% "cream ice cream", i.e. 15% milk fat.

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Published: June 17 2013

 

Every academic year an EANC scholarship is awarded to a Tallinn University graduate student whose research is related in some way to Estonia.  This year’s recipient is Liis Jõhvik, who began her master’s degree studies in history at Tallinn University last fall.  The prior spring, she successfully defended her Bachelor’s thesis, which examined the portrayal of men and masculinity in Soviet-era Estonian women's magazines. This research won her first place in a multi-university-wide competition.

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Published: June 23 2013

Karina Leppik is now one of the mission commanders of the SOFIA  project of the NASA Agency. Karina used her pilot license and astronomy degree to get the job. She is the daughter of dr. Ülo Leppik and grandaughter of dr. Elmar Leppik formerly of Tartu University.

 

About SOFIA Project. When it comes to studying the reaches of the galaxies, NASA takes the lead. Using some of the most powerful tools available, NASA scientist gain insights into the formation of stars in space. Now, they’re sharing a rare opportunity for teachers from across the country to be a part of their learning mission.

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Published: June 10 2013

 

Estonian National Ballet to Make Its North American Debut in a Piece Commissioned for the Gala San Francisco's iconic Palace of Fine Arts will be the setting for a unique and powerful evening of Estonian music and ballet the evening of Friday, June 28, 2013 at the Opening Gala of LEP- ESTO 2013. The three-hour ceremony, starting at 7:00 pm, launches an event-packed four day festival with performances by the Estonian National Ballet, in its first-ever North American appearance, the World-renowned pianist, Hando Nahkur, and the sublime voice of Estonia's Hanna-Liina Võsa, a rising star on the American stage and screen. 

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Published: June 10 2013

 

There are four challenges to translating Estonian poetry into English. First, trying to find the correct Estonian version of the poem. That is not as easy as one might think. Even the most famous poems are often misquoted. For example, the four famous lines from  Kristjan Jaak Peterson's 1818 poem differ in the sources cited  below. Second, grasping the meaning of the poem as intended by the poet. Lots of different interpretations are not only possible but also probable. 

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Published: June 03 2013

 

We now have a goodly amount of English language memoirs written by Estonians and Balts, about events that took place during the Second World War and during the Cold War, from the long journey into exile in 1944 until Estonia regained its independence in 1991.  Every memoir is interesting and important in the mosaic that brings it all together into what we call history. Alas, however, it is a well known fact that history is always written on a slant, tilted towards the victors and what actually remains depends on whose account prevails.  It is a large picture but with few details about the true goings-on, the personal and embarrassing truths that would mar the victory parades if they were widely known.  In the case of the Second World War, there is an entire industry busily falsifying the consequences of Communism.

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Published: June 03 2013

 

ERR News - The Estonian History Museum is reaching out to participants of the Baltic Chain in an effort to gather historical materials related to the event. The Baltic Chain, aka the Baltic Way, is the name given to a demonstration that took place on August 23, 1989 in which over 1 million people formed a 600-kilometer human chain through the three Baltic countries, speaking out to attain freedom from the Soviet Union. 

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Published: May 13 2013

 

Blame urbanization: being cut off from your mullased (soil covered) roots, becoming a store snob... It just seems somehow kohatu (out of place; unusual) to gather and eat plants that abound in the wild close to home. Like dandelions (või/lill). You know there's nothing really wrong with them, yet there's a slight aversion felt towards a plant that pops up in your face from every crack in the sidewalk (kõnni/tee). As a kid in Toronto, I remember hearing that local Italians made and ate dandelion salad. That somehow made it okay, since they're people who know what they're doing when it comes to food. Usaldus/väärsed – trustworthy. Nowadays it seems rukola may just be glorified võilill.

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Published: May 20 2013